"Without ads, they sold": Netizens crack jokes as cigarette ads mark 54 years of being banned today

On January 1, 1971, the world watched NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, witnessing the final battle for cigarette ads on television. That is when cigarette advertisements were canceled right after the last televised ciggy ad.

This wasn’t a random let’s ban it moment; rather it was decades in the making. In the late ‘60s, when everyone was rocking bell bottoms, people were finally starting to ask, Wait… is this stuff killing us? And yes, it was.

And now, we have Gen Z dragging smoking culture on socials. One X (formerly Twitter) user summed it up perfectly:

“Without ads they sell.”

A user said: "And it helped with nothing."

Another user said: "And yet here we are…"

A comment read: "Imagine seeing LeBron James in a cigarette add 😂😂😂😂."

A user humorously asked: "Can they ban cardi b’s music next?"

A comment read: "And now vapes are everywhere."

"One of my best doctors lived on cigarettes and candy bars," a user wrote.

"Well clearly it didnt stick i still see them on tv sometimes" joked another user.

"Birth rates have fallen since then… take that as you will" another user joked.

"Pretty sure I saw Joe Camel comercials growing up and I am not over 54 years old" another user jokingly stated.

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The backstory of the cigarette ban

Doctors in the 20th Century had concerns over cigarette smoking. In 1964, a U.S. report stated that smoking was associated with cancer and heart disease.

This led to the US Congress passing the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965. Now, cigarette packets had to carry health warnings.

In the latter half of the ‘60s, anti-smoking crusades ruled the roost. Thanks to the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine, anti-smokers forced broadcasters to provide equal time to speak against smoking.

The price tag for all those public health ads was $75 million in free airtime between 1967 and 1970.

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The ban: When TV gave cigarettes the boot

By the time the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act passed in 1970, the commercials were banned from airing on television. However, tobacco companies remained quite relaxed over this issue. Instead, they quit television by choice.

The reason they withdrew from the TV station was probably to prepare themselves for the many more restrictive laws that the government would likely introduce in the future.

President Nixon signed the Act on April 1, 1970—and the ban officially took effect on January 2, 1971.

And just like that cigarette ads went radio silent on broadcast media.

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Post-ban chaos

Everyone thought the ban would make smoking uncool, instead, cigarette consumption went up.

Instead of TV and radio, they slid into print media. Newspaper and magazine advertisements surfaced and tobacco companies increased expenditure for print media ads by 130% in one year.

Back in the day, smoking was not just a vice, it was a way of life. Smoking was common in airplanes, workplaces, and even in hospital waiting areas. The cultural chokehold was real.

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The glow-up of anti-smoking culture

As time went on, smoking progressed from being the epitome of cool to a behavior that was less acceptable to society. In 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act granted FDA considerable control over tobacco products; on the other hand; the anti-smoking campaign also gained momentum.

In 2017, the general population smoking rate in the USA was 14%, and during WWII the general population smoking rate was at around 50%.